ACCIDENT and emergency departments are understaffed, overcrowded and patients are going without pain relief, food or water, an inquiry out today has revealed.

The probe by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission also raised concerns over patient dignity, particularly for dying and elderly people and those with mental health conditions.

The findings of the Human Rights Inquiry into Emergency Health Care have been released today and have uncovered examples of “inhumane and degrading treatment”.

It was launched in June last year following a number of deaths in A&Es after patients experienced delays in being treated and sought to establish whether patients’ rights to health were violated due to treatment they received.

“We heard from dedicated staff striving to maintain patient dignity in an often challenging and crowded environment.

“In such circumstances there were reported instances where patients did not receive assistance with personal care needs, no pain relief, and no access to food and fluids.

“Of particular concern were cases involving end of life care, the inappropriate transfer of older patients from nursing homes and the experiences of those presenting to A&E in mental health crisis, with dementia or disabilities.

“The Commission heard individual cases which amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment but, did not discover evidence of systemic violations of human rights.”

According to the inquiry, interactions with staff were often reported to be positive but this was undermined at times by a perceived disregard, lack of attention or kindness from staff.

Evidence to the inquiry also suggested the provision of care and support to maximise dignity for dying patients and their family and friends is not always prioritised in emergency departments.

It also found that older people receiving end of life care were inappropriately transferred to A&E from nursing homes, while concerns were expressed that older people, particularly those with dementia, are being transferred alone at night in taxis.

The inquiry also found that older patients appear to wait longest in EDs, while concerns were also raised about dismissive attitudes from staff towards older people.

Communication was also raised as an issue, with staff complaining they are too busy to always spend adequate time speaking to patients.

The inquiry uncovered examples where patients received no information about what was going on.

The inquiry was informed that these attitudes may at times be reflected in the medical treatment administered,” the report said.

“Patients with less common conditions reported negative experiences from staff, including feeling laughed at.

“The core complaint was that staff did not listen to the patient which at times appeared to result in improper medical treatment.

“This impacted upon the patients’ willingness to attend ED in the event of future emergencies.”

The inquiry also found bullying as “endemic” or apparent in most EDs.

“Some felt bullying was not intended but rather symptomatic of behaviours that can occur in a busy ED,” it continued.

Mr Allamby said the inquiry heard examples of good practices and said that often the introduction of relatively simple measures significantly improved the human rights of patients.

“Many of these have been introduced with modest costs and there is a clear need to share good practices throughout the system on a more structured basis,” he said.

“The report recognised that emergency care departments do not control who comes in through the doors or whether the services are in place to allow a patient to move elsewhere in the hospital or back home.

“The importance of human rights are most obvious when we are at our most vulnerable.

“The right to the highest attainable standard of health is a standard that must be strived for and the respect for dignity and other human rights principles must be adhered to.”